Galt Missouri, Hometown of John Robert Atkinson

Atkinson was born sighted in 1887 in the small town of Galt, Missouri (Tuttle and Tuttle, 2002). In 1912 at the age of 25, J. Robert Atkinson was blinded in a gunshot accident (Koestler, 2004, p.104). Rather than allowing himself to become overwhelmed by the prospect of life without sight, however, he chose to rise above it using his abundance of ambition and grit. He founded the Universal Braille Press, a commercial-grade printing press specifically made to produce books that would be accessible to those who were blind as a way to force the existing printing presses to rise to his competition (Koestler, 2004). He did this at the perfect time as accessibility to Braille reading material was becoming a popular concept, thanks in part to The Matilda Magazine for the Blind, a Braille magazine still in publication today (Haller, 2010). Ten years later, in 1929, Atkinson created the Braille Institute of America in yet another attempt to make Braille books more readily accessible to the blind (Koestler, 2004). It is through this agency that Atkinson published the first Braille King James Bible, patented a Braille and ink calendar, and published the first Merriam Webster Dictionary with Braille pronunciation codes (Tuttle and Tuttle, 2002).

           In 1931, Atkinson became known as a voice for the typical blind person during a major court battle between the passage of two bills, both of which would provide services to the blind. Atkinson opposed one of the bills very strongly, stating that while it had the support of the major blind organizations in the country, it did not have the support of the average blind reader, and he brought hundreds of signatures to prove it. While he lost this battle and the Pratt-Smoot Act was eventually signed by Congress, Atkinson became known from this point forward as a prevailing leader and advocate for the blind community (“Proceedings and Debates”, 1931).

As head of the Braille Institute of America, Atkinson made the institute a leading source for the Library of Congress’ Braille materials. When the librarian of Congress made their annual report in 1938, they wrote about their increased need for books written in Moon type, which was a simplified version of Braille for adults who could not master the more complicated form. The librarian specifically applauded Atkinson and his organization’s willingness to provide for this unique need stating, “the quality of their workmanship in every detail is of the best and it is fortunate that we have this additional source upon which to depend” (“Report of the Librarian”, 1938).

           Despite an increase in availability of Braille reading material, it became clear that in order to serve all its patrons, they needed a form of reading material for those who could not read Braille. In response, the American Foundation for the Blind developed long-playing talking books that made reading material accessible to more blind people and were distributed through the Library of Congress (Fleischer and Zames, 2011). This invention was revolutionary, as it not only made more books available to more blind people, but it was also very accessible and affordable thanks to government assistance and cost-saving measures that were taken at the time (Fleischer and Zames, 2011). Atkinson was quick to put his hand in this up-and-coming technological area as well, and he developed the technology of what he called the Readophone, or what he claimed was a higher quality version of the talking book that the Library of Congress was already producing in large quantities. Because they had existing technology, the Library of Congress ultimately turned down the project (Koestler, 2004).

Despite what seemed to be another failure, Atkinson continued to be part of the blind community and advocate for services of all kinds when he could. His company still provided many of the Braille books for the library, and he took part in the first committee under the American Association of Workers for the Blind in 1941 to inform the organization of ways they could be of service to the blind community in the unique time of the world wars (Koestler, 2004). During this time, material for and about blind individuals became a growing concept in mainstream literature as veterans came home from the war with permanent injuries, leading to a rapid growth in the blind community. Additionally, talking books allowed parents and children to listen to a story together, and medical professionals became more invested in helping improve the lives of their blind patients (Haller, 2010).

Atkinson, with a keen business sense, was aware of the trajectory toward serving a wider range of readers and leveraged his position with the association to encourage more blind people to enter the business of creating reading and listening material for other blind individuals. It is this encouragement that is the reason the National Library Service is able to offer so many Braille and talking books for blind patrons to this day. After a long life of serving blind individuals through his various acts, Atkinson passed away in 1964 at the age of 76.

Annual report of the librarian of Congress for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1938. 1939.

Fleischer, D. Z. & Zames, F. 2011. The disability rights movement: From charity to confrontation.

Haller, B. A. 2010. Representing disability in an ableist world: Essays on mass media.

Koestler, F. A. 2004. The unseen minority: A social history of blindness in the United States.

Proceedings and debates of the seventy-first Congress of the United States of America. 1931. Congressional Record, 74(7), pp. 6407.

Rasmussen, C. 2006. “L.A. Then and Now: Man Brought the World to the Fingertips of the Blind”. Hall of Fame: Leaders and Legends of the Blindness Field. https://sites.aph.org/hall/inductees/atkinson-art/

Tuttle, D. & Tuttle, N. 2002. “John Robert Atkinson”. Hall of Fame: Leaders and Legends of the Blindness Field. https://sites.aph.org/hall/inductees/atkinson/